the new guy
by Shakestah
Summary: Who's the new guy? Jake gets a fresh start living with his cousin double d, and ends up catching the eye of the kanker sisters. Of which one starts showing a particular interest in him. This is going to get interesting...
1. Chapter 1

Alright to get it all out of the way i do not own ed edd 'n eddy or anything else i may possibly use in this fanfic. Just the plot. Uhhh cartoon network You're the boss and own these characters so please be nice lol i just kinda had to put it out there.

this is a story all about how the ed's lives got twisted upside down, it'll only take a minute so come take a peek, i'll tell you how jake came to a town called peach creek.

(does the Carlton)

alright guys time to throw an OC your way. He's been floating around in my head for a while now and decided to finally give him a shot. this will be my first story I actually feel willing to post so bring on the feedback lol.

Chapter 1: who's the new guy?

have you ever had the feeling that sometimes you just don't belong? even among friends and family there seems to be that gap. a void that fills you yet slowly eats you from within, bearing upon you that unmistakable feeling we all have known; Loneliness.

Jake sighed as he squinted at the rising sun before putting his shades on and straddling his motorcycle. "today is going to be a long day" he thought to himself as he stuck the key into the ignition and pressed the electric start. the bike came to life with a deep rumble, getting louder as he throttled up the bike to warm the engine before he took off for the last leg of his trip.

Summer vacation had just started for all of the kids in peach creek and it seemed everybody was enjoying it by sleeping the morning away. everybody that is, except for Double D. His prompt schedule and early morning chores wouldn't allow for any sort of laziness or procrastination, and honestly he wouldn't have it any other way. even though he and all of his friends would be seniors in the upcoming school year, Double D vowed to himself not to be taken by the "senior-itis" that seemed to take hold of most high school teenagers in their final year of academics.

"Oh my, he'll be here soon." Double D thought to himself as he was finishing up the last of his chores. just as he was finishing, he heard a faint low rumbling outside of the house. "I wonder what that could be?" He said aloud as he briskly walked to his front door, cracking it open slowly to inquire as to what the odd sound was. as he stepped out onto the front porch he realized the sound was coming from down the street and slowly growing louder. "Could that perhaps be jake?" He pondered to himself. "He's rather punctual today." As he looked down at his watch to see that it was 0900 on the dot.

As jake slowly rolled up the cul-de-sac he assessed the houses, vaguely remembering the setup from a prior visit when he was younger with his parents. While searching trying to remember which house was Double D's, he saw a young man waving from his porch signaling him to pull up. He cut the engine as he pulled into the driveway and put his kickstand down as he got off his bike. He was much taller than Double D, standing at an even 6'5" compared to the 5'10" of edd, seeming to get his height from his fathers side. Besides being tall, Jake was much more muscular due to his father training him in boxing and kickboxing as well. He pulled off his bandana from his head revealing short cropped black hair,similar in color to both his and edds mothers as they were sisters. After the bandana came the shades revealing hazel eyes to complete the picture. All in all edd had to admit that jake had grown into a rather handsome individual. "Cousin!" Jake said as edd walked up to him. "How have you been? Its been too long!""Quite so, i am fine myself. How are you doing jake?" Edd asked "You do know it's extremely dangerous to ride that two wheeled death machine without a helmet." "Yeah, yeah..." Retorted jake, "lots of things are dangerous now a days." "I just wish for your safe being especially because of how your..." Said edd not realizing that what he was just about to say was a very touchy subject still. "What, how my parents died? Thanks for the lovely reminder cuz..." Said a now solemn jake. "I am terribly sorry for my previous statement jake, i apologize." Said a concerned edd. "... It's fine, don't worry about it. Could we just not talk about it right now? I've had a long ride and just want to relax a bit" jake sighed as he sat down on the porch. leaning back, he unzipped his leather riding jacket and took it off placing it next to him.

"i hope you don't mind my asking, but where are the rest of your possessions? I thought you had a car as well?" Questioned edd trying to change the subject a bit. "oh, it's on it's way."jake said while stretching. "I have a couple buddies driving the uhaul and car here because i wanted to get here first to check things out. They should be here later today." "i see. Well hopefully they will find the house without too much trouble." Edd pondered aloud as he walked up the steps next to jake. "well, if you would please follow me. I'll show you around the house and to your room." "awesome. thanks cuz... It's really nice of your parents to let me stay here till i get on my own two feet." Jake said as he followed edd into the house.

Double D gave a short but thurough tour, ending it at the door of jakes new room. "And here you are jake. This will be your room and mine is the one right next to it, so if you need anything feel free to ask." "sweet." Said jake as he opened up the door and walked in taking in the feel of his new room. "home sweet home." Edd smiled as jake gave him a thumbs up and asked "are you hungry? I was just about to make breakfast when i heard your approach." "Heck yeah man, im famished" replied jake as they both walked downstairs.

"what the hell was making all that racket?" A groggy eddy mumbled as he stumbled out of bed to take a look outside. By that time several other kids had also gotten up due to the rude awakening caused by the bike. As they all got dressed and came out one by one, checking out what caused all the noise, they noticed the bike sitting in double d's driveway. As they gathered around to see whats up, more and more kids had shown up until the whole gang was there. Eddy and ed broke off from the group and walked over to double d's door and gave it half a knock before inviting themselves in. "hey sockhead!" Yelled eddy "who's roadster is sittin' in the driveway? Its a nice ride!" "it's mine." Replied jake from the kitchen "who's askin?" Eddy and ed turned the corner to see jake and double d sitting at the counter eating breakfast. Eddy stood there puzzled for a second before asking "hey, sockhead. Who's the new guy?"


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2: settling in

"Eddie, ed, this is my cousin from my mothers side. His name is jake. Jake, this is eddy and ed." Jake slowly sat up from his seat and walked over with a slight grin on his face. "so these are the other two ed's you were talkin about? Good to meet ya guys." "yeah you too, is that your ride out front?" Asked eddy rather quickly curious about the bike. "yep, just bought her a few weeks ago. My last bike got banged up in a wreck my buddy got into with it a while back so i figured it was time to get something new." "it's sweet!" Said eddy, headed back towards the door. "it looks like a triumph rocket 3..." "yep! It looks like you know your bikes eddy." Jake responded following him out the door only to be bombarded by questions from all the other kids in the driveway. "who's this?" Several of them asked. "alright, alright! Cool your jets guys!" Yelled eddy getting everyones attention. "this here is jake, double d's cousin. He'll be living with double d for a while." "why's that?" Questioned kevin. "because of some family circumstances, i have to live here for a while." Replied jake. As the kids all gathered around and introduced themselves, double d came out and joined them as well. "so" started kevin, "how old are you? You ride so are you 18?" "close" jake said. "i'm 17 like double d. I got my bike liscence when i was 16 along with my drivers liscence all in one go." "dude thats awesome" said nazz "do you have a car as well?" "Yep, it'll be here later with the rest of my stuff." seeming to be happy with all of the answers they received, the kids from the cul-de-sac slowly started back to their houses. "later sockead, jake." Eddy said as he and ed walked back to their respective houses. "salutations fellows, i'll see you later" replied edd as he motioned for jake to follow him back inside so they could catch up on family and personal lives.

The rest of the day went by rather quietly, the rest of Jakes stuff arriving later that day. as he was sorting his stuff in his room a knock on the door caught his attention. "come in." He said as he was filling his dresser back up with clothes from boxes. "would you like any help?" Asked edd as he opened the door. "nahh, i'm good, but you can hang out if you want." Edd walked across the room and sat on his bed while jake continued to put clothes in his dresser. "what do you think of everything so far?" Asked edd. "its fine. The kids around here are friendly enough so i won't have to worry about making friends, and this bedroom is nice." Answered jake. "it'll be nice to have somebody else living in the house for once" started edd. " its been... interesting living in this house practically by myself, seeing as how my parents themselves are never home." "yeah" replied jake. "i couldn't take living in that house by myself either anymore. it started really getting to me." they both Sat there for a moment before Jake finally broke the silence. "hey cuz" edd turned his attention back to Jake. "does your high school offer college courses for credits?" Yes, i am taking a few next year myself. Why?" Replied edd. "Because, i revieved all the necessary credits from my old high school before moving here and i figured it would be boring if i took the same atuff as filler till i graduate, and free credits are awesome!" Jake said as he laughed a little. "Well, i suppose we'll have to get mother and father to enroll you next school year. As for now i believe dinner is what we should be conserning ourselves with." Said edd as he walked towards the door. "sounds good, and hey, really quick. Did you happen to see where the guys stuck my guitar and amp at?" Asked jake as he got up to follow. "i do believe if i remember correctly, seeing it in the garage." "Awesome, thanks!"

"hey! Marie! Get your ass back here!" Lee kanker yelled after her sister. There had been a lot more fighting amongst themselves as of late with not really having anything better to do. After this last year of high school, they didn't really pick on or chase after the ed boys much anymore. The boys had grown rather indifferent to their teasing and the fun had honestly been drained from it; because the reaction was half the fun whenever they teased their respective "boyfriends". Not to be mistaken, they did like the eds, they just didn't really know what to do anymore. They all tried so hard in many different ways only to end up being feared and ran from. So, they used what they created to suit their needs by using the fear to their advantage to get close to the eds.

"marie!" Yelled may as she stepped out of the trailer. "where'd you go? I'll be waiting!" "yeah yeah, whatever..." Mumbled marie as she booked it through the trailer park. As she walked down the alley towards the construction site, where she would pass thru and into the cul-de-sac, she heard a faint sound. It was slow and sweet, almost like... "someones playing guitar? Questioned marie aloud "who around here knows how to play?" She started walking quickly for the cul-de-sac to find out just that. As she came out of the construction site she noticed a car and bike sitting in front of double D's house, both parked in his driveway. as she snuck over to see what was going on she noticed that the music that was playing was coming from edds garage. "double d knows how to play the guitar?" she thought to herself and she went to the side the garage being careful not to make a sound. once she was able to find a window she climbed up to get herself a better view. "Who the hell is that?" She thought as she spyed on an unknowing jake playing on his guitar. he looked alot like double d, but he was taller than edd she noted, that and was a lot better built as well. He wasn't wearing a shirt, only basketball shorts which allowed her to see the hard work that had brought him the boxers physique she was now admiring. As she watched him she suddenly noticed the song he was playing. Dazed and confused by led zeppelin? A classic! "Just who is this guy?" Before she noticed, she was caught up in the song and didnt notice until she came back to reality that he wasn't playing anymore. He wasnt even standing where she last saw him. "where'd he go?" She asked aloud.

"right here" replied jake standing right behind her with his arms crossed. The sudden startle caused her to lose grip of her holding and fall backwards only to be caught by jake. As he helped her down she couldn't help but feel embarrassed by the whole situation. She was caught red handed! Spying on double d's house and on someone she didnt even know! As she felt his eyes look at her face searching for an answer he saw her blush, only causing him to grin a bit before asking "if you don't mind my asking, why were you spying on me?" "i uhh..." Stammered an embarrassed marie "i... Was uhh... Curious" she finally said. "oh? Curious of what?" Asked jake, amused by the situation. "Curious who would be playing guitar at edd's house! Nobody around here plays and not only that you were playing so well!" She felt her face grow hot at the sudden complement she had given without realising it.

"who are you?" She asked, trying to bring back the 'scary' marie kanker everyone was so afraid of. "before that" jake said showing a genuine smile, "who are you? I don't quite like fulfilling the requests of peeping toms without getting something out of it first..." He said, his smile turning into a grin. "man, what a smile" she thought to herself as she said "marie. Marie kanker. Now you."Jake sullivan" he replied "now marie, sorry to break this lovely conversation short, but i'm tired and am worn out from today. If you ever feel like listening to me play again, just knock. I dont mind the company of someone as pretty as you." A flash of that sly smile crossing his face again. "i uhh..." She said, trying to make sense of what just happened "i don't need your permission for anything bub!" "oh?" He replied, obviously enjoying himself "well we'll see how that works out. As for now i think its bed time. Adios marie." He said, turning around and walking back towards the garage. "hey! I'm not done with you yet!" Yelled marie "why are you here at double d's house?" "If you're so interested, come ask me when the situation is a bit more appropriate." He said, looking down at himself. "Until then, goodnight." He said as the garage door slid down. He waved at a slightly confused marie before walking back into the house. "this might be fun" he said to himself as he walked upstairs to his room smiling to himself. "wait... Did he say i'm pretty?" A still confused marie said aloud as she blushed an even deeper shade of red. "who is he? And that smile... God what am i thinking?"


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3: old memories

"hey cuz" jake said as he passed by edd's door and found it open. "you in here?" "yes, jake. Is there something you need?" Replied edd. "i didn't know you guys had peepers in the neighborhood." Jake said laughing a bit. "oh?" Started edd "what do you mean?" "this chick was spying on me while i was playing guitar in the garage. It looked like she was spacing off when i saw her and she didn't even notice me come outside till i was right behind her. When i spoke to her she nearly split her head open when she snapped out of it." Edd now had a very serious look on his face "pray tell, what did she look like?" "well, she was pretty, slightly on the taller side. Oh yeah and she had blue hair! Kinda odd but it's really nothing new... Hey cuz? Whats wrong?" Edd's face had gone a couple shades paler at that point, and a slight tremble came across him at the mention of the blue hair. "dude are you ok?" Asked jake as he walked up and put a hand on edd's shoulder. "y-yes jake." stammered edd weakly. "what, do you know her or something?" Asked jake as he sat edd down at his computer chair before taking a seat on the bed. "unfortunately, yes." Replied edd. "her name is marie kanker." "yep, thats what she said. You're acting like she's bad new or something cuz... What's up?" "i suppose i get to tell you this story a bit earlier than i anticipated." Said edd. "lets start at the beginning."

over the next 3 hours edd sat and explained the occurrences of the last several years to jake. he explained everything, from the first meeting of the kankers, the 'wedding' and its details to the more recent trials and tribulations the eds had been put through. "man..." Started jake "that's intense. but I wonder why they've stopped bothering you lately?" "no.e of us know." Said edd. "they sudenly stopped bothering us. it might have been because we started acting like it didn't bother us, but that couldn't be the only reason." "well, it looks like i have a bit of a new opinion on our miss peeper..." Said jake "it's pretty late, i think i'm gonna hit the hay. Night cuz." "goodnight jake."

As Jake walked into his room and closed the door he found himself thinking about marie. "is she really like that?" He thought to himself. "she seemed shy and a bit awkward at first, but then seemed to get some confidence back when confronted and that was kind of... Hot." as he lay down he couldn't help but smile to himself.

"where the hell have you been? I was talking to you when you walked out." Lee yelled as marie walked through the front door of the trailer. "none of your business 'mom'." Retorted marie as she made her way to the stairs and her room. "hey! Hold your horses! We're not done just yet! Snapped lee. "fine..." Sighed marie, "what is it?" As the sisters bickered marie found her mind wandering back to that smile. As she thought of it, a smile briefly crept across her face before she heard her name and something smack her in the gut lightly. "what?" Yelled marie. "whatcha smilin for princess?" Mocked lee "dont tell me ya went to sneak a peek at double d when ya snuck off didja?" A sudden blush heated maries face "i didn't!" "oh, but your face says different..." Lee said as she grinned at marie. "it's easy to see your lyin' to me." "it wasnt oven mitt that i saw!" Marie blurted out, instantly regretting what she said. "oh? Then who was it?" Asked lee curiously. "shit" marie mumbled to herself before letting out a sigh. "it was some guy at oven mitts house." "is that so? Questioned lee, "who is he?" "he said his name is jake" replied marie. "and why was he there?" "he wouldn't tell me... He said we could talk at a more appropriate time." Suddenly remembering jake in nothing but basket ball shorts made marie blush more only spiking lee's interest. "huh..." Said lee " so what's he look like?" "well..." Marie started "he looks kinda like oven mitt, but he's much taller. He has short dark hair and hazel eyes." "oh yeah?" Said lee sensing marie drifting off a bit again. "looks like you think he's cute!" "no way!" Marie yelled "i have my oven mitt and that's all i need!" She was mad and slightly embarrassed at the fact that she had thought so much about jake in such a short amount of time. "i'm going to bed!" "alright alright. Don't get your panties in a twist." Lee replied before waving off her sister. "sheesh!" "stupid lee." Marie said to herself as she got into bed. "i've got oven mitt."


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4: open wounds

The next few days crept by slowly for jake as he was still getting things situated in his new room and house. Although not meaning to, he inadvertently ended up claiming the garage for himself. double d was perfectly fine with it as long as things stayed organized. There wouldn't be any problems in that aspect because jake tended to be tidy. As saturday rolled up, jake finally started to feel at home. It was early morning and jake had been itching to break out the punching bag and pick up his old routines again.

He went and threw on some old basketball shorts and a sleeveless shirt so he could go for a morning run to get the blood flowing before he hit the bag. As he walked downstairs he saw edd finishing up the last of the morning chores. "hey cuz, you know of any good trails around here that i can run?" Asked jake. Edd stood and pondered a moment before answering. "i do believe there's one near the construction site that winds back into the woods if thats fine with you." "awesome" jake replied, "that'll work just fine." Jake slipped on his running shoes and stepped out onto the front porch. He did a few stretches before making his way to the trail for his morning run.

Marie stretched and yawned as she rolled over to look at a blurry alarm clock. She rubbed her eyes before focusing back at the time to see that it was only 7:30 am. She sighed as she rolled onto her back and looked at the ceiling. She knew she wasn't going to be getting any more sleep even if she just layed there. A groan escaped as she sat up and pivoted, resting her feet on the floor taking a moment to gather herself. As she stood up, the sound of barking dogs drew her attention to the window. "what's got them all riled up?" She thought to herself as she walked up to the window to see what was going on. As she followed the dogs with her eyes, she noticed that they were chasing something on the other side of the fence. she looked up and squinted to focus a bit trying to see who it was pestering the dogs. when she recognized who it was she nearly smacked her head on the glass doing a double take. "what the hell... Why's he up so early? Is he running?" She stood there watching him until he dissapeared from sight. "maybe i'll go get that answer he promised me the other day..." She thought to herself as she started to get ready for her visit.

By the time she was ready and started heading out the door it was already 9 am. She made her way through the construction site and down the street towards the cul-de-sac when she once again heard music coming from the direction of double d's house. As she got closer she noticed the garage door open and approached slowly not sure of what she would see. When she reached the side of the garage she noticed the music was blaring out of jakes amp and that he seemed to be hitting something suspended from a rafter. She watched him for a moment until a new song came on and he started to weave and bob to the music. She was about to laugh at him until she noticed that his hands were taped up and it was a punching bag he was sparring with. She stood back and watched him as he swayed, kicked, and jabbed to the beat of the music. While he was throwing sets and combos in harmony with the beat she noticed how swift and accurate his hits were, always landing on the same spot on the bag even while he bobbed to the left or right. She took a seat on the hood of his car and watched as he worked harder and faster as the tempo sped up. As the song finished he stepped back and decided to take a break. While reaching for his towel he heard clapping from behind him. As he turned around to see who it was his expression hardened as he saw her on his hood. "get off" he said coldly as she stopped clapping. She gave him a puzzled look as he walked towards her. "OFF! NOW!" he yelled as he approached. She slid off and quickly became defensive. "what's the deal? Afraid i'm going to scratch daddys car?" She mocked "it's mine" he retorted, still cold. "oh, so did daddy buy it for you?" She asked, still teasing. "he bought it for me when i was 10. We built it back up and he put it in my name when i turned 16. It's very precious to me." "Is that so?" She laughed "whys that?" "Because." Started jake "it reminds me of the time we spent together before..." he trailed off, putting his hand on the hood of the car seeming to lose himself in distant memories. "... Before what?" Asked marie, her curiosity peaked. "before he died." Jake looked at her with a pained smile that even she could tell was forced. "I loved it. Being able to work on this car with him meant so much to me. I'm sorry i yelled at you." He sighed as he stood there looking at her. "i'm so sorry. i didn't know." she apologized "i wouldn't have sat on it if i knew. And i'm sorry about your dad. It must be hard for your mom as well..." She drifted off, noticing jake cringe at the mention of his mother. "oh no," she started "she..." "my mother and father both died at the same time. They were involved in an accident." He now stood there solemn. Swimming through all the painful memories as they came to him one by one, filling his mind with painful images and his heart with a sore ache. He missed them terribly. Suddenly, he felt something pressing against him, and arms wrapping around his back. It startled him so much that he almost fell over backwards and would have if he hadn't been bracing himself with the car. She was warm and soft, and smelled of perfume he noticed, catching a drifting fragrance when she pressed herself against him. "i'm so sorry" she said while hugging him "i didn't mean to bring up something painful like that." He breathed in deeply, then sighed. He couldn't be mad at her, how could he? She didn't know. and yeah, she picked fun at him, but when you've had friends like jake has you tend to not let things like that get to you. there's no way she's as bad as double d was making her out to be... "i probably reek" he laughed as he looked down at her. "i did promise you an explanation when the timing was more appropriate. If you wanna come in i'll take a quick shower and we can talk after, ok?" He started walking back into the garage. "alright, sounds good to me..." she said as she followed him inside.

When they went inside, he led her to the living room. "would you like anything to drink?" Asked jake as he walked into the kitchen and peered into the fridge. "have any soda?" "yeah is dr. pepper fine?" "sure." He snagged a can and a bottle of water for himself and walked back over to her. handing her the can, he smiled and started walking towards the stairs. "give me 15 minutes and i'll be back down, the remote for the t.v. is on the side table by the couch. She plopped down on the couch and flipped the t.v. on as he headed up the stairs taking them 2 at a time. As she heard the shower kick on, her curiosity got the better of her. What better way to see what kind of person jake was than to see what his bedroom looked like? She slowly got off the couch and lightly walked over to the stairs. She knew her way around double d's house from the several times she snuck in to see her oven mitt in a more 'private' manner, be it to just to see his sleeping face. She quietly but quickly climbed the flight of stairs first passing double d's door taking a quick listen to see if edd was in there. As she heard him moving about she figured he was occupied. "better make this quick" she thought to herself as she slipped into jakes room.

At first glance it looked like a normal boys room, but as she took a closer look she noticed several trophies sitting on his shelves near the bed. As she continued to look around seeming to drink in a bit of his personality, she noted car and band posters "good taste in music" she thought to herself and smiled. While She continued to pan across the room she noticed an acoustic guitar, a flatscreen, some gaming consoles, and a... "sketchpad?" she walked over to it and picked it up. "i wouldn't have pegged him as the artsy kinda guy" she said aloud as she opened the cover and flipped through a couple of blank pages and spots where it looked like pages had been torn out. When she finally got to the first drawing her eyes got wide as she stared at the picture. It was his car, but so much detail and effort was poured into the sketch it nearly looked like a black and white photo. She flipped through the next several sketches and found them just as amazing as the first. Even though it was just random subjects, the amount of detail in each sketch shows the care he had for the object or person. As she got to the last pages of the pad she came across a sketch of a woman. She was slender and beautiful, with a warm smile and soft eyes. Her hair was shoulder length and curly, shaded a light grey. She admired the drawing a minute longer before flipping to the last page. She stood shocked as she looked at herself. The sketch mirrored her perfectly, down to the freckles and how her hair swept over her right eye.

"you can have it if you want." She nearly jumped out of her skin. "i uhh..." She stammered, looking for the words to get her out of this mess. "how did you draw me so well? You couldn't have seen my face for more than 5 minutes before i left the other day." He leaned against the door frame and let a smile cross his lips. "i have a good memory, thats all." His smile widened a little "more importantly, what are you doing in here?" What she first failed to notice was the fact that he was standing there in his towel, and a sudden blush crept up her face. He hadn't completely dried off and was still dripping where the towel didn't cover. He felt her stare wash over him causing him to tense up slightly and flex. When she realized that he caught her staring she changed the subject. "why are you naked?!" "well, i wasn't expecting company in my room when i was finished with my shower... So if you wouldn't mind please i'd like to put on some clothes, unless you're wanting a show?" She huffed and pushed past him, dropping the sketchpad where she found it and went back to sit on the couch. As jake got dressed and started heading downstairs, edd popped his head out of his door. "that voice just now..." Edd shivered "was that perhaps... Marie?" "yeah, sorry. She snuck into my room while i showered and i caught her." "why is she here?" Edd asked, still shaking slightly. "we're going to have ourselves a nice little chat is all." Jake smiled and started walking down the stairs. "I'll tell you all about it after i'm done."


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5: digging deeper

When jake reached the bottom of the stairs he noticed marie was sitting back on the couch where she previously sat prior to her little intrusion into his personal sanctuary. She sat with her left leg over the right, and her arms crossed obviously still a bit flustered. At the sight of this jake chuckled quietly while making his way to the opposite side of the couch, sighing as he sat down. "todays been rather eventful. And it isn't even noon yet!" He looked over to find her eyeing him with a slight scowl plastered on her face. "hey now..." he started, "look, we wouldn't have had our nice little moment upstairs if you would have just sat there and behaved." he smiled as he said "so wipe that scowl off your face, take a deep breath, and let it go." she raised an eyebrow but kept the scowl as she continued to look at him. He rolled his eyes as he said "i won't mention or bring it up myself either alright? Anyways, you're not here to glare at me, you're here for answers right?" She sighed, unfolded her arms and rested them on her lap. "fine." she replied looking at him again once she was comfortable. "good!"

"so what exactly do you want to know?" He asked as he repositioned himself to face her and be more comfortable. "well," she started "from what i have learned just recently, a lot of my questions have been cleared up." "Like?" He asked, curious to pick her brain a bit himself. he wasn't really sure why he found her so interesting honestly speaking. he had only really met her once before for a brief moment, and it was true that he found her to be a rather pretty girl now he had a chance to really look at her. it was something different though, a kind of vibe she gave him that he couldn't quite describe. "jake?" He snapped back to reality. "yeah? Uhh.. Sorry i was spacing out for a moment." "did you hear my question?" He shifted again as he brought his full focus back on to her. "no, i'm sorry. could you please repeat the question?" "I asked if it was really alright to ask whatever I want?" he thought about the question for a moment, before getting a slight grin on his face and asking her " alright, I'll tell you what. if you honestly answer any question I ask you as well, I will be completely honest with you and be open to anything you want to ask." he let it sink in for a moment, watching her expressions as she mulled over the idea. although at first slightly shocked, she soon had her growing curiosity to contend with has the ability to ask anything had its benefits. "alright" she agreed, "but don't get angry when i ask the tough questions." "It's fine with me." He replied clearing his throat. "alright, you first." He nodded to her waiting for what he figured to be the first question to come from her lips. He wasn't disappointed. "how'd your parents die?"

"no mercy." He shrugged as he looked at her. "well, i guess it is better to get the heavy subjects out of the way first. So, before the current bike i have, i had another that my dad had given to me and i did all the work on it myself. Once i had it fixed up i asked my dad if he wanted to go take a ride and he said sure. He went and told mom we were going to go out for a ride and she wanted to tag along too. I had ridden the bike a couple times before finally asking dad to take a ride with me so i knew that it was safe. Anyways, as we were gearing up, my dad tosses me the keys to his pride and joy. A custom chopper he had built over the years. I was shocked! I had never ridden his bike before and i remember seeing him grin at me before putting his bandana over his face." "a bandana?" She interupted "yeah" he continued " we wear them sometimes when the bugs are bad. So we mount up and crank the bikes over, and head out. It's starting to get later in the day so we stop at my parents favorite hole in the wall and grab something to eat. Its now about 11 or so since we sat around and talked after eating and we decide to head back to the house. We swapped bikes and headed out." jake sighed. Marie shifted slightly, suddenly regretting the question she asked. "i'm so stupid" she thought as she said "jake, you don't have to tell me anymore. I'm sorry i asked such a hurtful..." He stopped her. "it's alright. I did promise." He took a deep breath and continued. "we came to an intersection with a bit of a blind corner for the cross traffic. My dad always made me follow during our rides together allowing him to be the eyes and ears in front. The rules were 3 second spaces between takeoffs and the same for following distance. As our light turned green i started counting as my parents rolled into the intersection. It all happened in slow motion for me. as i counted 2 i caught a glimpse of the log truck in the corner of my eye. I..." He took another deep breath "i watched them die. Right in front of me! I couldn't do anything about it as i watched them be taken from me right before my eyes!" He rested his elbows on his knees as he sunk his head into his hands. "i felt so helpless." As she watched him, she felt a stab of pain in her heart. A warm, wet line rolled down the side of her cheek and she suddenly realized she was crying. She could feel the sadness of his story ache at her heart. "why did i have to ask such a dumb fucking question?" She yelled at herself in her head. "i'm so sorry, i shouldn't have asked. I didn't mean to make you remember such horrible memories. Sometimes my curiosity gets the better of me and i do stupid shit like this." "you know," he started "your the only other person i've told this to besides the cops and shrinks." He laughed half heartedly. "Really?" She didn't know what to say. "really, not even double d knows and he's always been more like a brother than a cousin." Somehow, she felt pride in that. It was a shameful thing to have pride in, yes. But still, he told her. No one else. "and now!" He said while streching, "it's my turn."

She stiffened slightly at his words. "now for his payback." She thought. She looked at him preparing herself for whatever he could throw at her. Crossing her arms again, she nodded. "Shoot. Go ahead and ask what's on your mind." He looked at her for a moment before asking "why do you do that?" "what?" She questioned back, getting defensive. "that." he replied "you get so defensive so quickly. You act like i'm constantly trying to attack you or something..." she realized what he meant. For some reason, he made her nervous. Unlike all of the other kids in the neighborhood, he wasn't scared of her. Hell! he wasn't intimidated at all. And she didn't really know how to act because of that. "i don't know, really." She unfolded her arms and placed her hands back in her lap. " i've seen two polar opposite sides of you. on one side you seem to actually be friendly, and the other side pretty much tells me to fuck off." He smiles. "so, my question is why?"

She suddenly felt her cheeks grow hot. "well" she began "your strange to me." He raised an eyebrow but said nothing, only twirling his finger in a 'continue' fashion. "everybody fears us kankers." She said. "us?" he repeated. "yeah, me and my sisters." He nodded acknowledgment and she continued. "you act differently than what i'm used to compared to everyone else so my guard picks up and i get mean." "oh?" He started. "so what if i only wanted to be friendly towards you with no malicious intent?" "why would you want to be nice to me? I've been nothing but mean to you." She asked, trying to not let her guard back up. "why not?" He responded smiling. "that smile again." She thought, feeling a little less nerous at the sight of it. "of course i'd want to be friendly with someone as pretty as yourself." She felt her face grow hotter again. "why do you keep saying that?" She asked. He raised an eyebrow again. "say that i'm pretty? I'm not pretty by any means." She looked down at her hands. "i was teased alot when i was younger along with my sisters. We were always called ugly among other things, and we acted like it didn't bother us but it stung. So why do you say i'm pretty when its not true?" Jake frowned at her last statement. "i said i would answer you honestly, and i honestly think your pretty. Actually i think your gorgeous, but i thought that might freak you out a bit hearing it all of a sudden from me." Jake laughed a little as maries face went 5 shades darker. "oh, come on now! Don't blush and shake your head. I'm telling the truth. and now i, myself am a little embarrased." Quickly wanting to change the subject before her hair caught fire from the blaze of her cheeks she said "alright, my question!" "fine, fine." Said jake "ask away." She thought for a moment. "whos the drawing of in your sketchbook besides me?" He frowned a bit but answered "my ex." "Your ex?" She repeated, getting drawn in. "yeah, my ex. She didn't believe in long distance relationships so she went after my best bud instead." Her eyes got wider. "your buddy hooked up with her? What a pal." "he turned her down at first, but she's persistent so he asked me if it was alright and i ok'd it. I don't care about it anymore anyways." Not liking where the conversation was going, marie streched herself out for a moment before saying "your question next."

They talked for several more hours, ordering a pizza when they realized they were hungry and carried out their conversation after eating. It was nearing 9 pm when the first yawns hit. "Man it's gettin late." Marie commented while standing up, yawning again. "i'd better head home." "yeah, i gotta hit the hay too." Jake said as he stood up and walked her to the door. "you know, your maybe kinda cute when you actually open up and smile a bit." Jake said with a grin. She punched his arm lightly. "shut up!" She said genuinely smiling. "you need to show your face around here more. Dare i say i really enjoy your company." Jake said, rubbing his arm where she hit him. "we'll see, you are kinda weird." She replied flashing another soft smile. "oh, hold on i got something for you." He bolted up the stairs and returned a few moments later with a peice of paper in his hands. "here, for you." She grasped the paper only to find out it was two instead of one. She flipped them over to discover was that the first one was the drawing of her. The second however was new to her. It was a self portrait of jake, rather well done. "i figured you would like them." He smiled as he opened the door for her. "thank you" she said as she walked outside. They said their goodnights and parted ways. After he closed the door he sighed. "oh man" he said to himself. "whats going on with me? I think i like her..."

As marie walked into her trailer she payed no attention to anyone as she went up to her room and got into bed. "why can't i get him out of my head?" She wondered to herself. "we only talked for a while but god, i already miss his company! And that smile. I can't believe it, i think i like him..."

Neither of the 2 slept that night.


End file.
